Best Food Dehydrator

You might have heard of dehydrators and how they can help preserve food. I have been using these appliances for more than 10 years now and have tried a good number of them. I have used them for different produce and I can immediately tell you which models will serve people for years and which ones won’t work well for you.

What is a Food Dehydrator?

Simply put, a food dehydrator is an appliance that people use to dry their own food. They are used to dry meat, vegetables, and fruit. They are relatively small so they won’t be so that much trouble when finding storage space. They work gently thus they rarely pose any form of hazard to the work area. However, do take note that it may take several hours to preserve food items. Some food items that tend to be juicier tend to require several days of drying.

How It Works

You may have seen someone use these devices to make food dehydrator recipes. Imagine nice and tasty beef jerky of your very own make. Makes you wonder just how these dehydrators work. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to at least have some sort of an idea how each different part works. You may not understand exactly the physics involved but at least you can discern the general idea.

In lay man’s terms, a dehydrator uses a heating element, pretty much like your run off the mill toaster oven. Other than that, this appliance also blows air at the heating element in either of two directions: horizontally or from the bottom up. Blowers in either of these directions have their own advantages and disadvantages.

For instance, having horizontal hot air flow in your food dehydrator prevents any form of flavor mixing ever occurring. However, you will be a bit limited regarding the size of the batch of food you can dry. On the other hand, bottom heating dehydrators would usually result in flavor mixing if you put in different types of produce. However, this type of fruit dehydrator allows you to make larger batches of the same produce.

Benefits of Using a Food Dehydrator

If you’ve used these appliances as long as I have then you can immediately tell what benefits you can reap from using them. The foremost benefit is being able to extend the shelf life of food. You get to preserve food, even ones that are due to expire soon, and make them last longer eventually. Other than that, they also maintain the nutrition value that you can get from food. Food also becomes more flavorful. Having your own dehydrator allows you to save more since you don’t have to spend as much on dried food like you used to.

Food Dehydrator Buying Tips

Before you set out on a food dehydrator hunt, remember that there are a few things you want to keep in mind several factors that anyone should consider. You have to check where the fan is positioned, power usage, warranty period, dimensions, enclosure for the unit’s heat source, tray size, temperature regulation, and a lot of other important factors.

What is the Best Food Dehydrator?

Now, naming the best unit or model isn’t spelled in absolute black and white. Some models work for some folks while others require a totally different brand and model. Since I have had some pretty extensive experience with these products, tell you what – I’ll review each model I have tried and tell you both the good and the bad In each one of them and then you can make up your own mind.